Thanks for reaching out. Much appreciated. Which would be the preferred or better input to use on this Topping D90SE DAC? USB or Coax?
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Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)
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Eddy H.
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I recommend using the USB if you can. Then coax and optical last.
Agree.
Did you ever find a tube amp you liked?
For those seeking an SACD transport option for the Topping D90se that circumvents its S/PDIF receiver problems—specifically for those with an Oppo BDP-103/105 or a UDP-203/205–I found a terrific option that achieves a quality on par with PSAudio’s PerfectWave SACD transport ($6,900) at a fraction of the cost.
There’s a website called Oppomod.com that sells hardware mods for the above-mentioned Oppo blu-ray players that require minimal to no soldering or significant alterations to the unit, and also don’t compromise the native player’s functions. Since the warranty period for these players is long past, there’s not much to lose.
I bought four of their mods for my UDP-203–a PCM/DoP board upgrade, a BD-ROM stabilizer, an I2S output board, and a linear power supply upgrade. There were options to add a Femto clock upgrade that required soldering and a more complex install that I passed on for now. Total cost for all four mods was $1100; for just the PCM/DoP and I2S mods the cost is $600.
The PCM/DoP mod replaces the Oppo’s analog output DAC board for one that adds a new user menu—one that allows you to bypass Oppo’s coax output limit of 48khz 16 bit downsampling to now output 192/24 via a new coaxial port.
The BD-ROM stabilizer provides more accurate data retrieval from the CD player mechanism and upgrades the transport to the quality of the limited edition Japanese BDP-105 unit.
The LPM SE substantially upgrades the existing power supply from a switching version to an audiophile-grade toroidal option.
The I2S mod is an add-on card that shunts all the digital data streams out of an I2S port that is identical to the pinout of PSAudio’s SACD transports (of note, PSAudio still uses Oppo’s transport for their own products). Similar to the PerfectWave, the I2S output allows the native SACD data stream to be sent to the Topping to be natively decoded there. It also sends Red Book CD data streams upscaled to 192/24 to be decoded by the Topping.
I’ve received all four mods and plan to install them this weekend. I’ll send photos of the process in the next few days. The designer of the mods is very accessible and responsive via email and shipping was super fast—I got them from S. Korea within 8 days.
If anyone is interested I’m happy to answer any questions! I’m committed to finding workarounds for the significant input receiver issues with the Topping d90SE, because otherwise I think it’s a top-notch DAC.
—Steve
There’s a website called Oppomod.com that sells hardware mods for the above-mentioned Oppo blu-ray players that require minimal to no soldering or significant alterations to the unit, and also don’t compromise the native player’s functions. Since the warranty period for these players is long past, there’s not much to lose.
I bought four of their mods for my UDP-203–a PCM/DoP board upgrade, a BD-ROM stabilizer, an I2S output board, and a linear power supply upgrade. There were options to add a Femto clock upgrade that required soldering and a more complex install that I passed on for now. Total cost for all four mods was $1100; for just the PCM/DoP and I2S mods the cost is $600.
The PCM/DoP mod replaces the Oppo’s analog output DAC board for one that adds a new user menu—one that allows you to bypass Oppo’s coax output limit of 48khz 16 bit downsampling to now output 192/24 via a new coaxial port.
The BD-ROM stabilizer provides more accurate data retrieval from the CD player mechanism and upgrades the transport to the quality of the limited edition Japanese BDP-105 unit.
The LPM SE substantially upgrades the existing power supply from a switching version to an audiophile-grade toroidal option.
The I2S mod is an add-on card that shunts all the digital data streams out of an I2S port that is identical to the pinout of PSAudio’s SACD transports (of note, PSAudio still uses Oppo’s transport for their own products). Similar to the PerfectWave, the I2S output allows the native SACD data stream to be sent to the Topping to be natively decoded there. It also sends Red Book CD data streams upscaled to 192/24 to be decoded by the Topping.
I’ve received all four mods and plan to install them this weekend. I’ll send photos of the process in the next few days. The designer of the mods is very accessible and responsive via email and shipping was super fast—I got them from S. Korea within 8 days.
If anyone is interested I’m happy to answer any questions! I’m committed to finding workarounds for the significant input receiver issues with the Topping d90SE, because otherwise I think it’s a top-notch DAC.
—Steve
Last edited:
Veri
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Well. Just for the record, there are high quality switching supplies, too
BTW, @JohnYang1997, do you have measurements of a pre90 driven by the D90SE?
I know a guy searching for an ultra clean signal generator doing more than single tones
The disappeared measurement result folder was found, so I will post it.
D90se and D90se+Pre90 5V / 3.7V / 1V / 0.1V dashboards.
D90se default filter (#3)
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Eddy H.
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My 90pre+D90se sounds great.
Well, of course! But this one has “SE” on the end of it so it must be better, right?Well. Just for the record, there are high quality switching supplies, too
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I haven't been following this thread, I just wanted to stop in to say that I haven't had a single problem with my D90SE and that it sounds simply amazing. I've had it since August, I've been running it through the PRE90+ since September, and not a single hiccup. Stellar sound. I am done with DACs and preamps, I'm at end game, any money I spend going forward will be on buying music.
staticV3
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staticV3
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Both of them have only analog outputs and digital inputs, so you cannot connect them to each other afaik.
What are you trying to achieve by connecting them?
Veri
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You can't connect a DAC to a DAC. What would that do, exactly?
sorry for the mistake. I meant α30pro
sorry for the mistake. I meant α30pro
sorry for the mistake. I meant α30pro
staticV3
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The D90SE has XLR/RCA out and the A30Pro has XLR/RCA in. Of course you can connect them together.
Veri
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Sure you can connect these two
Hello everyone,
I own a D90SE since a couple of weeks and I wonder if anyone have solved the problem with sound droppings via optical and coax inputs?
I use my D90SE with CD player by coax - the droppings are like every 25-30 minutes, but with 12 yo Sony tv by optical droppings are even by every 3-5 seconds to 15-30 seconds (this varies on tv channel I am watching, on some there are no droppings). This is really annoying. I am dissappointed with this gear... Any solutions so far?
I also noticed that droppings are more frequent in time. At the very beginning I haven't noticed them. There are no droppings with USB, neither the bluetooth.
I own a D90SE since a couple of weeks and I wonder if anyone have solved the problem with sound droppings via optical and coax inputs?
I use my D90SE with CD player by coax - the droppings are like every 25-30 minutes, but with 12 yo Sony tv by optical droppings are even by every 3-5 seconds to 15-30 seconds (this varies on tv channel I am watching, on some there are no droppings). This is really annoying. I am dissappointed with this gear... Any solutions so far?
I also noticed that droppings are more frequent in time. At the very beginning I haven't noticed them. There are no droppings with USB, neither the bluetooth.
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